


little pieces of time

by ifeelcelestial



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen being founder and president of the Iris West fan club, First Dates, Multi, other tags to be added with drabbles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:16:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8274253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifeelcelestial/pseuds/ifeelcelestial
Summary: Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.AKA drabbles in Flash-verse based on prompts.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For changedmystars on tumblr who requested: “Barry cooking Iris dinner for a date!!" 
> 
> Feel free to prompt me @ beckywiththebaldhead

After all the false starts and lost kisses, Barry wants to make every moment he has with Iris unforgettable. There’s still a laundry list of things about this timeline he wishes he could change, but his relationship with Iris isn’t one of them.

_Relationship._

The word has weight for Barry now because it’s _real_. It isn’t an erased timeline or an alternate universe. It isn’t hypothetical or a frustrating game of ‘will we, won’t we’ anymore. It’s all in present tense and Barry won’t take that for granted. Iris deserves so much more than he’s given her and, when he’s not busy saving the city or working scenes for the CCPD, he dedicates a chunk of free time to planning elaborate dates to surprise her with.

He runs his first efforts by Cisco and Caitlin, and they both share a concerned look before kindly telling Barry to tone it down a little bit.

(Cisco actually says, “Bro, as nice as all of it sounds, it’s real extra. Slow your roll and calm down.”)

Since Barry’s doing this new thing where he actually listens to the advice people give him, he reluctantly shelves his plans to run Iris to France for a picnic with the light of the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. Instead, he invites Iris over for dinner, promising her an amazing home cooked meal. As it turns out, he doesn’t actually need to be in France to feed Iris French food.

In the week before the date, Barry does a lot of running around (well, more than usual) to get the ingredients together. Once that’s taken care of, he spends more time than he ever has on the cooking side of YouTube, watching a nigh endless stream of tutorials on how not to screw everything up. On the day of, he leaves work early (Julian predictably makes a dig at him for this) to give himself plenty of prep time.

He successfully pulled off most of the crème brûlée yesterday and plans on applying the finishing touches once the main meal is handled. Though Barry is operating on a smaller scale, that doesn’t stop the whole thing from being intensely stressful. His speed doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s never cooked any of this before, and the possibility of a disaster in the kitchen is very real until the last dish is being spooned into a serving bowl borrowed from the 'in case of important visitors' china cabinet.

Being a speedster does help with the somewhat involved plans he has for decorating the place. In a moment when Barry is certain nothing on the stove will catch fire, he makes sure the rest of the house is immaculate. When that’s done, he starts moving furniture. Luckily, both Joe and Wally have agreed to make themselves scarce for the rest of the evening (though Joe did grumble about being kicked out of his own house) so he doesn’t have to deal with either of them joking about how corny what he’s doing is.

When Iris arrives, she lets herself in and has to take a moment so her eyes can adjust to the soft light of the house, now illuminated entirely by candles. It’s a fire hazard if she’s ever seen one, but she also appreciates the gesture.

Barry hears her come in and calls her through to the dining room. Usually, Iris would be able to see it clearly from where she is in the entryway but a sheer curtain’s been hung up, obscuring her view. She laughs at that, even more endeared by Barry and his commitment to being as overt about his romantic side as possible. Iris passes through the living are and gently parts the curtain so she can step into the dining room. What she sees leaves her speechless.

The room is almost unrecognizable, completely transformed for her and Barry’s night in. The familiar dining table’s been replaced with a smaller, cafe style table set for two. The candles at the table’s center flicker over the place settings (which look like something out of a home decorating magazine) and the wrought iron, heart shaped backs of the chairs. There’s a path to the table made out of rose petals and on the chair she assumes is for her, there’s an elegantly wrapped box with a bouquet of irises laid out on on top of it. As she gravitates towards the table, she notices that there’s a piece of paper right above her plate. Closer inspection reveals that it’s a menu, properly done up on fancy paper with a swirly font. As Iris looks it over, she’s hit by how good the house smells - sweet and savory at the same time - and she notices that the soft sound of jazz is meandering through the air as well. Everything altogether is like something out of a vivid dream; the detail makes it feel surreal and intangible. It takes a moment for Iris to convince herself that she’s actually in her father’s house.

She’s still soaking the atmosphere in when Barry emerges from the kitchen. His presence snaps her out of her reverie and she stares at him wide eyed for a few moments before speaking.

“Oh my God, Barry … this is ... a lot.” Overwhelming, if she’s being honest.

“Sorry,” he says, rubbing his neck with a sheepish grin. “This is, uh, actually toned down from what I wanted to do before, if you can believe that.”

Iris laughs, incredulous. “Where on Earth did you come from, Barry Allen?”

And he smiles then because she’s said a similar thing before, in another time.

Wherever and whenever he is, Iris is always Iris.

She’s his one constant.

His fixed point.

His anchor.

She’s done more for him than she’ll ever know, more than he could ever tell her, and he has to show his appreciation somehow. Barry wants to say all that aloud, but he reminds himself that he’s meant to be taking things slower, learning to savor these moments. So, he settles for -

“I’ve always been right here.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> Extras: 
> 
> Barry's full menu  
> -Fancy cheese and cracker plate (complete with heart shaped crackers)  
> -Coquilles Saint-Jacques  
> -Poulet de Provencal  
> -Creme Brulee  
> -Plus some fancy old wine
> 
> Where did Barry get all the ingredients for this from you ask? Paris, of course. He also "borrowed" the table and chairs from a bistro there. 
> 
> This is what's in the box: http://www.li-lacchocolates.com/Chocolate-Gift-Box-French-Assortment-1lb
> 
> What can I say, he's Extra(tm)
> 
> Mood music (aka what I was listening to on a loop the entire time I wrote this): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiGKxCAg_0o


End file.
